[Cheese] Buttermilk

[Peter Næslund Møller]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jack Schmidling" <arf at mc.net>
To: "The Cheese Makers' Digest" <cheese at hbd.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 7:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Cheese] Buttermilk


> 
> > Are there degrees of being set? Like does it form a soft curd first, 
> > and then get more firm? Or is it a matter of being either liquid or 
> > set? 
> 
> Good question and I have never actually measured it over time.  I 
> believe it is rather sudden but that is a guess.


It changes gradually over a couple of hours, but I guess you could call that sudden considering the whole process takes 16-24 hours..

> >Yesterday was a warm day and it seemed to be done after only 6 
> > or 8 hours.
> 
> It is most definitely a function of temp.  The warmer it is the faster 
> it happens.

Yes, but the temperature also changes the balance between the 2 kinds of bacteria that develops the flavor...  Make it too warm and it will taste more "yoghurty"..

The ideal temperature is around 16 degrees C, and you do need to be pretty accurate at this point as a change of 0.5 deg C can result in a notable change in taste...
 
/peter